Golf apparatus



Sept. 3, 1940. c. J. ROHLAND GOLF APPARATUS Filed July 24, 1939 2Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS.

p 1940- v c. J. ROHLAND 2,213,570

GOLF APPARATUS Filed July 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A TTTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 3, 1940 entree stares- This invention relates to a devicefor practicing the swinging of a golf club; and has for one of itsobjects to provide aninteresting and instructive device for such use.

Another object of the invention isto provide an arrangement whereby theimpact upon a driven element such as a golf ball will be indicated bythe extent that the driven element travels H along a certain guide.Another object of the invention is to provide a device in which thedriving force of impacton the driven element will be consumed in thespinning of the element about a post in a. guided .manner with theextent of the guide so propor- "tioned that a well directed impact uponthe driven element will cause the element to be expelled from the guidewith a suflicient amount of remaining force to travel a very shortdistance. Another object of the invention is to providea" guide whichwill direct the driven element to sub stantially the position of theoperator when leaves the guide.

Another object of the invention isto absorb misplaced strokes upon thedriven element in a manner such that they will be absorbed by torsion ina resilient link rather than being expended'in the expelling of thedriven element fromthe:

guide.

A further object of the invention is to provide; 306 a driven element insuch a manner that it may be firmly attached to a link for conducting itin a desired path.

Withthese andother objects in view, the in-=- vention consists ofcertain novel features of con- 35' -struction,-as will be more fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the deviceas mounted upon the turf and in full lines in posi- 40 tion for readyuse while the dotted line showing indicates a different position afterthe ball has been driven;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the base and showing the linkfragmentally; 45 Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the helical Wire and itsarrangement;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the base; Fig. 5 is a detailed view of themanner of attaching the flexible link to a loop; 50 Fig. 6 is a sideelevation of the fastening tape used;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View of the driven element or golf ball;

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 7 with the link 5 attached thereto;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line 9-49 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is asectional view on line Ill-l0 of Fig. 8; h I 1 I Fig-11 is'a perspectiveview of the apparatus 7 mounted upon. a driving mat; and 6 Fig.- 12-isa'sectional View on line l2l2 of Fig. l1.

Devices for practicing the swinging of a golf club are both highlyinteresting and educational from the standpoint of acquiring the properswing of a golf club. Much practicing is done by driving the golf ballinto a field which necessitates some person retrieving the ball otherpracticing is done by driving the balls into nets or back stops formedofsuitable material to prevent the passing of the ball through them. Whilesome practicing is done by the use" of cotton balls, these balls,however, are so light that they are affected-by the wind and otherconditions and are not satisfactory; and in order to provide 20 a devicewhich will give some measure of the force of=the impact of the golf clubagainst the ball I have arranged a device providinga golf ball ofsoft'rubber which may be struck with the golf club and have so linked this toa guide device 25 thatthe energy of the impact will be absorbed bythe-ball revolving about a post and I have so guided the revolving ofthe ball about the: post that theball will ascend along the path of ahelix until a certain height is reached when it may then fly bycentrifugal force from'the post and I havef 'so arranged the guide thatthe force will almost be expended by a properly directed imp-actbeforeit reaches the end of the post, and

then will-fly but a short distance in a path a few inches from theground to approximately the feet of the operator; and the following is amore detailed description of the present embodiment of this invention,illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results maybe ac- 40 complished:

With reference to the drawings, I provide from wire a central postportion i5 and about this post [5 as a central axis I helically coil thesame Wire in a plurality of convolutions it along the path of a helix ofthe required pitch. The wire then extends radially as at. H anddownwardly at l8 parallel to the post portion l9 as shown more clearlyin Fig. 3.

A cast base 20 consists of a central body portion 2! and a flange 22.The body portion has an opening 23 to receive the post I5, I 9therethrough while there is a boss. 25 about which the lower helicalcoil It extends and a recess 26 for the reception of the radiallyextending portions l1 5 of the wire as previously mentioned. Thisassembly is such that it may be so placed that the portions 58 and 19may extend into the turf with-fthe base portion 20 resting on the turfas illustrated in Fig. 1.

The driven element or ball 30 is formed of sponge or cushion rubber 3!which when vulcanized forms a skin portion 32 on the outer surface; andin molding this driven element a recess 33 is provided extendinginwardly which also in vulcanizing is coated with a skin 34. A link 35consists of a rubber tube 36 provided along a major portion of itslength with a square core 31, this link being attached to the ball ordriven element by being doubled as at 38 and forced into the recess 33as shown in Fig. 8 and then suitably bonded in position, such as bycement, While at the other end of this link there is a loop 39 with theend of the link folded over the loop as at. 40 and held in any suitablemanner such as by" winding the doubled back portion with an adhesivetape 4| to bind this folded portion in position about the loop.

In some instances instead of mounting the base in the turf it may bedesirableto mount the same upon a rubber mat 43 as shown in Fig. 11. Inthis case the mat will be of a ply of rubber 44 and a ply of spongerubber 45 with some relatively stiff material as 46 located between theplies at Qthe central portion which assists in the supporting of a screw41 which may be passed through the stiffening sheet 46 and into athreaded opening 48 in the modified base 20. In this instance theportion 19 of the post 15 will be absent and 5. the portion 18 will beof relatively short extent to extend into a recess made by itsprojection into the mat as at 49. V I r .With the ball in the positionillustrated in Fig. 1 or in Fig. 11 the same may be struck by the golfclub to move in a clockwise direction about the post 15. If the force ofimpact is sufficient the ball will be guided around the post in asufficient number of convolutions to pass out of the helix and off ofthe tip of the post at S llwhere it 453 joins the helix enough of theforce of impact will have been expended so thatthe ball will travel buta short distance and in a direction to come to rest at the feet of theoperator. In fact, it takes avery good impact in order to cause thisball to travel this extent. The novice striking the ball will. not causethe ball to be driven from the helix and he may determine by the amountthat the ball travels up the helix the value of the impact which he hasgiven it.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the constructionillustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the deviceis susceptible.

I claim: 5

1. A device'for practicing the swinging of a golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a link connected at one end to said element, aloop at the other end of said link, a post engaged by said loop and ahelical guide about said post and 10 spaced therefrom for directing thepath of travel of said loop about said post.

2. A device for practicing the swinging of a golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a link connected at one end to said element, a 15loop at the other end of said link, a post engaged by said loop and ahelical guide for directing the path of travel of said loop about saidpost, said post and guide being coterminus and spaced from each other.20

3. A device for practicing the swinging of a golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a link connected at one one to said element, aloop at the other end of said link, a post engaged by said loop and ahelical guide for directing the 5. path of travel of said loop aboutsaid post, said post and guide being coterminus and spaced from eachother and serving to direct the path of flight of the driven element.

4; A device for practicing the swinging of a 9? golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a link connected at one end to said element and aguide for the other end of the link consisting of a wire formed toprovide an axially extending core and a helix enveloping said core andspaced therefrom.

5. A device for practicing the swinging of a golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a linkconnected at one end to said element and aguide for the other end of the link consisting 40g; of a wire formed toprovide an axially extending core and a helix enveloping said core andextending radially and then downwardly at the other end to provide aspur for mounting said guide. v 1

6. A' device for practicing the swinging of a golf club comprising anelement to be driven, a guide comprising a coiled wire structure, a linkconnected at one end to said element, a loop at the other end of saidlink and positioned to em- 505: brace said wire and slide along theinner surface of the coil to be guided in its path of travel along theconvolutions of said coiled wire.

CURT J. ROI-ILAND. am:

